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This is one of the tulips that breaks ­– due to virus – and produces the odd flamed flower. The thick-petalled blue-tinted lilac flowers, rather like cockades, are produced very late. Used at Dixter with variegated honesty, a few forget-me-nots, young bronze fennel and the striped green and white foliage of Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus 'Cosmopolitan’.

The classic purple tulip, perennial and robust. This looks superb with the young foliage of phloxes, which often has dark tones. The purple petals glow in any light and they are veined with deep purple. One of finest Triumphs, good in large drifts on its own.

3 'Shirley’

(Triumph, late April, 50cm/20in)

(ALAMY)

The perfect partner for 'Negrita’ because the purple veining on the pale petals picks up the colour. 'Shirley’ opens to buttermilk-yellow, but don’t panic: within two days purple veining and mottling develops, varying annually (due to temperature). Used en masse with Thalictrum 'Elin’, a meadow rue with dark foliage, makes 'Shirley’ glow.

4 'Ballerina’

(Lily-flowered, late April-early May, 55cm/22in)

(ALAMY)

This scented orange-to-terracotta lily-flowered tulip is woven through spring zing euphorbias, including the low-growing E. polychroma and the more billowing E. characias subsp. wulfenii. The smell is often described as mandarin orange, but Fergus prefers tangerine. I say violet. “One man’s tangerine is another man’s violet!” Used in wilder areas with the self-seeding biennial umbellifer Smyrnium perfoliatum and the statuesque fennel Ferula tingitana 'Cedric Morris’.

5 'Daydream’

(Darwin Hybrid, mid-April, 30cm/12in)

(ALAMY)

This Darwin hybrid is Fergus’s life partner of the tulip world because it changes colour in different lights, from apricot through to warm orange and yellow with red highlights. Used with the shiny green parsley-like foliage of Ferula tingitana 'Cedric Morris’.

6 'Apeldoorn’

(Darwin Hybrid, late April, 55cm/22in)

(ALAMY)

This bright red Darwin tulip is used as a contrast against young green foliage. It opens wide in sun, showing off its black and yellow base Stunning next to silver Artemisia lactiflora.

7 'Purissima’

(Fosteriana, early-mid April, 45cm/18in)

(ALAMY)

This languid tulip gets taller as it matures and the white flowers turn more clotted cream. It grows through a sprawling Clematis x jouiniana 'Praecox’ before the clematis takes over.

8 Tulipa sprengeri

(Species, late May, 40-50cm/18-20in)

(ALAMY)

This species loves some shade. Leave the small, burnished red flowers to produce seed heads and these will germinate like mustard and cress, producing flowering-sized bulbs in four years. Used at Dixter among the hardy fuchsias 'Genii’ and 'Riccartonii’. These are cut back to keep them in scale, allowing enough light for germination.

9 'Spring Green’

(Viridiflora, early May, 50cm/20in)

(ALAMY)

This fresh vision of green and white will happily clump up or dribble through tight spaces, giving ebb and flow to the border. Used with the blue Omphalodes capadocica 'Cherry Ingram’, lime-yellow Smyrnium perfoliatum and the vivid honesty Lunaria annua 'Munstead Purple’.

10 'China Pink’

(Lily-flowered, early May, 45cm/18in)

(ALAMY)

This pure pink tulip needs regular topping up, but it shines next to silver foliage and is placed close to cardoons (Cynara cardunculus) at Great Dixter. It can also be blended with purple tulips, such as 'Negrita’ or the single late 'Queen of Night’.